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Tag Archive | Grace

This evening I attended a Taize’ Prayer Service with my 2 best friends, Linda and Nancy. It was Nancy’s idea since she had gone twice before and thought it would be something that we would like.

For those of you who don’t know what Taize’ prayer is, it is a compilation of songs, written in simple melodies and harmonies that are sung over and over as a chant. It is melodious, meditative and just beautiful for listening and getting ready to sit silently for prayer. This type of song and prayer was developed in Taize’ France in 1940 by a young seminary student, Roger Schultz. He later became known as Brother Roger.

The prayer service lasted about an hour, hour and a half. There was an orchestra and singers, candles, icons, etc. A good number of people came to pray together.

After the prayer service there was a writing workshop offered and of course Linda, Nancy and I attended.

The topic for this workshop was grace. What is it, how do we describe grace, have we experienced grace in our lives.

There was a nice group of people in the circle that we formed and most everyone had something to say about grace. One person said that grace was something that is offered by God and freely accepted by this person. She described it as “buckets of grace” that she felt blessed with.

Another said it was like being rewarded with a small lottery prize win the evening of a day when he witnessed an accident and spent time comforting a passenger while the medics were on their way.

For myself it was a moment so very sweet, a moment that I won’t soon forget. It was the evening that my daughter had just given birth to her daughter. I was so blessed to have been present when all 4 of our grandchildren were born, but this day was something special.

There was my daughter Kelly holding and comforting her newborn daughter Maya. Maya decided that she needed to be nursed, so Kelly began to nurse her. Soon after that my daughter looked at me and told me she was so thirsty. So, I got a glass of orange juice, put a straw in it and began to hold the juice for her so she could drink.

Imagine the picture ~ here I was nourishing my daughter while my daughter nourishes her daughter! What a moment of pure grace!!! I can still see that scene in my mind’s eye and I can “feel” what I felt as I held the juice for Kelly. I remember saying to Kelly, “do you see what is going on here?” Kelly smiled and nodded at me. The graced moment was not lost on her as it certainly was not lost on me.

Each and every day carries within it moments of grace. It is up to us to stay awake and watch for those moments that God gives freely, just for you and just for me!